President Ruto has directed police to pursue politicians who finance, recruit or organize goons, warning that politically sponsored violence has no place in Kenya's democracy ahead of 2027.
President William Ruto has directed the National Police Service (NPS) and other security agencies to go after politicians who finance, recruit or organize goons to disrupt political meetings and intimidate opponents in the run-up to the 2027 General Election.
Speaking on Friday, August 28, during the police recruit pass-out parade at the Kenya Police Training College in Kiganjo, Nyeri County, Ruto said officers must stop stopping at the foot soldiers and instead pursue the people funding and organizing them.
"Do not arrest only the young people holding a weapon while allowing the person who recruited, transported, and paid them to escape responsibility," Ruto said, adding that politicians who finance or organize violence must be held accountable regardless of their political standing.
The President was blunt on the limits of political impunity. "No politician is entitled to a private militia. No candidate has the right to intimidate citizens. No political objective can justify violence," he said, describing politically sponsored violence as having "no place in our democracy."
Police Told to Protect, Not Suppress, Protest Rights
Ruto also used the parade to remind officers of their constitutional obligations. He said political parties must be free to organize, candidates free to campaign, and citizens free to assemble, question, criticize and choose their leaders without intimidation.
He pointed to Article 37 of the Constitution, which guarantees the right to peaceful, unarmed assembly, demonstration, picketing and petitioning of public authorities — while noting that this right does not cover arson, looting, assault, intimidation or destruction of property.
"The responsibility of the police is to distinguish between peaceful democratic participation and criminal conduct," he said, warning officers against criminalizing legitimate dissent while letting political violence slide under the guise of activism.
Warning Against Police Corruption and Abuse
The President also addressed the newly graduating officers directly on discipline, urging them to remain impartial and resist being compromised.
"Wherever you are deployed, you must remain disciplined, impartial, incorruptible, protect the vulnerable, treat every citizen with dignity and reject every inducement to compromise your duty," Ruto said, cautioning against bribery, collusion with criminals, excessive force and abuse of authority.
He commended officers serving in difficult conditions, including those responding to emergencies and confronting armed criminals, and stressed that public trust remains central to effective policing — noting that citizens are more willing to report crime and cooperate with investigations when they trust the police.
Ruto closed by calling on political leaders to make the 2027 contest one of ideas, policies and leadership — not intimidation, hired gangs or ethnic mobilization — so that Kenyans can freely and peacefully choose their leaders.